Nintendo’s newest console is off to a fairly strong start. Meanwhile, for the first time ever, Sony’s PlayStation 3 has surpassed the Microsoft Xbox 360 in overall sales.

The Nintendo Wii U has been on the market for just over 40 days. In that time, it’s made Nintendo $300 million. In December 2012 alone (prime holiday shopping season), Nintendo reportedly sold approximately 460,000 units of the new device.

Photo credit: Kotaku.com

That sales number is actually lower than the 475,000 original Wii consoles Nintendo sold in December 2012. Yes, people are still buying the original Wii.

Nevertheless, Nintendo says that the Wii U is more popular than its predecessor. After 40 days on the market, the original Wii had only managed to make Nintendo about $270 million.

“While the Wii launch established new benchmarks in the United States, Wii U has surpassed its predecessor in perhaps the most important category: revenue generation,” noted Nintendo sales and marketing vice president Scott Moffitt.

Of course, there are some other details to consider. Most importantly, at $300 and up, the Wii U is far more expensive than its predecessor was at launch time. Analysts say that, had the Wii U been priced closer to the original Wii ($250), its total revenue would be about $220 million.

In related news, the PS3 has, for the first time ever, surpassed the Xbox 360 in terms of overall sales. The International Data Corporation now reports that sales of Sony’s home console have surpassed 77 million units, whereas Microsoft’s system is pegged at about 76 million units sold.

It’s worth noting that the PlayStation 3 launched in late 2006, a full year after the Xbox 360. Giving Sony the edge: Blu-ray playback and free online play.

In terms of sales, both the Xbox 360 and PS3 trail Nintendo’s original Wii by a substantial margin. Recent reports indicate that Nintendo has sold almost 100 million units of the device.

Of course, those reports don’t indicate how many of those dated little white consoles sit, unloved, in dusty basements.

brandon dimmel, why did you ruin the last line of an otherwise well written article with a swipe at the wii?
you also didnt mention how many xbox 360’s have been out of commission due to poor faulty design. red ring of death. mention that or the fact that sony has over 4 different versions of its same console. mention that?

Because the Wii is garbage that’s why. Kinect is a far superior motion action platform, hands down. Not to mention graphics for the Wii are horrible, and there is no reason for anyone over the age of 12 to have any use for it. It just flat out sucks.

Only children are that obsessed with raw graphics, if you care so much about them then you are either be a Pure PC Elitist or a hypocrite.
Kinect may have better physical detection capabilities overall, but I find that having the secondary layer of buttons/controls on the Wiimote+Nunchuk more enjoyable, although i’ll admit i don’t play stuff like dance games where the Kinect’s abilities really shine.

Jimmy has a valid point. I have both a 360 and a Wii and they have both gotten comparable play time, but only the 360 has ever needed to be repaired/replaced. It is unfair to just dump on one system out of nowhere like that and it makes the author look biased and less credible.

Good read. I’m glad to see the playstation doing great. Don’t really care about Nintendo. And Jimmy, from what I know, he speaks the truth. I have a wii, and it’s in a cabinet. There’s thisbwii at this event center, stays disconnected, replaced with a 360.

last lines are rubbish.. makes this whole article shit. if I may ask those fanboys and the author of this article.. what games do you play? let me guess.. halo, halo and uhm.. halo? or wait, call of duty?? c’mon please, move on to pc you guys.. better graphs, less online errors and way more expensive! so more to brag about! compared to a super pc, x720 and ps4 are puny little insects. It’s just a shame nintendo has such a bad name because of those freaking sony/microsoft kiddy fanboys. Ah well, while you guys are playing skyrim, I’m playing monster hunter tri ultimate, zelda, super smash, mario, nintendo land, bayonetta 2 and plenty more great titles. with a reasonable good pc I can also enjoy the likes of League of Legends, World of Warcraft and the rest of the pack.